Busy Time: 20 min,
Total prep time: 20 min (plus overnight chilling time)
Serves: about 8

Meringue:
(if you want to make it - will make 500g)
5 egg whites
340 g sugar (don’t use icing sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vacherin:
250 g meringues
1 litre Vanilla ice cream
300 g fresh or frozen raspberries
a squeeze of lemon juice
2 teaspoons icing sugar
Chocolate sauce

If you are making the meringue (a day ahead):

Take the egg whites out of the fridge 20 minutes before starting. They will become more voluminous when beaten if at room temperature. If you have older eggs the better, the meringue will be softer inside.
Preheat oven to 120 degrees C.

Using an electric beater beat the eggs into peaks, slowly pouring half the sugar. Once the eggs have doubled in volume, add half of the remaining sugar and the vanilla extract. Keep beating until the whites become firm and shiny. Add the remaining sugar in a fine rain and beat a bit more, until all the sugar is folded in. The egg peaks should solidly hold onto the whisk

Line your oven tray with greaseproof paper and scoop large dollops of meringue onto the paper. Bake for about 1 hour (or less if your meringues are small) with the oven door kept slightly open with a rolled kitchen towel.
Take out of the oven and allow to cool down.


Prepare the vacherin (a day ahead):

Take the ice cream out of the freezer and allow to soften until you can easily spoon and shape it (it should be a bit thicker than thick yogurt).
Wash the raspberries, keep a few for garnish (3 per person) and crush the remaining ones into a coulis with the back of a fork. Mix in a drizzle of lemon juice and 2 heaped teaspoons of icing sugar.
Crush the meringues into 2-3 cm chunks

When the ice cream has softened, gently fold in the coulis, Don’t mix homogeneously, the coulis should make some swirls in the ice cream, tainting it pink in places while leaving white chunks in others.
Press a layer of about 1.5 cm of ice cream at the bottom of a loaf-shaped tin or individual ramequins. Press into the ice cream the same height in meringue chunks.

Alternate the layers until reaching the top or finishing up the meringues and ice cream.
Always press each layer well, focusing your attention on the edges as you want the ice cream layers on either side of the meringue chunks to join up - otherwise when you unmould the vacherin. You may end up with holes and meringue chunks may fall off.
When finished, place in the freezer and chill overnight.
If you want to minimize time in the kitchen when serving, prepare the chocolate sauce ahead and refrigerate.

Just before serving:

To unmould, dip the mould or ramequins quickly into a bath of hot water in your sink, of about halfway the height of your pan / ramequins. Slide the blade of a blunt knife along the edges of the pan, and turn upside down on a serving platter.

Serve with fresh raspberries and the warm chocolate sauce, prepared in 2 minutes in the microwave or warmed up with a bit of water if you prepared if beforehand.

My Vanilla and Raspberry Vacherin

With good quality ice cream and meringues bought at your baker’s or a gourmet shop (stay away from ultra sweet, ultra dry supermarket ones), you can make this fabulously delightful vacherin in no time. Smartly accessorize it with a homemade raspberry coulis and chocolate sauce and you will achieve a most refined dessert. Luxurious food does not need to be complicated.

Anne-Laure

See more of Anne-Laure's recipes at www.tastydiaries.com